Formulas
by Dr. F. M. Obsesser
Summary: Who ever said Math and Love don't mix? Ami and Makoto are studying one night and lines begin to blur.... AmiMako


What do you get when you have a geek who has been without math for almost two months and a shoujo-ai rush? Well, this of course! Making my debut into the Sailor Moon fandom (previously hooked into Mai Hime) with the following. I hope you enjoy it (and isn't too OOC). Please let me know your thoughts or suggestions (any plot ideas are also welcomed). Hopefully another (either MakoAmi or MinaRei) will be written soon.

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon, if I did, Mamoru and Usagi probably wouldn't exist (it pains me so that the major couple often manages to annoy me) and if they did, Mamoru would be gay (now that's a fun crack pairing to try sometime: Mamoru and Motoki...) and Usagi would be... I dunno... less of a crybaby?

--

They were alone. The sun had set hours before and there was no sign of the night ever ending. No one else was coming in and, as of then, no one else was going out any time soon. And what were they doing?

No, not fulfilling Makoto's hidden fantasies.

No, no confessions in sight.

No, they weren't even frickin' holding hands.

They were just studying, studying math of all things.

That fact alone (that they were studying math rather than doing anything else) was enough to make Makoto's head burst. It really didn't help that math was her least favorite subject and possibly the hardest to study for. It didn't help that this study session had gone on for about four hours, with no breaks except for the goodbyes when the others left. And it definitely didn't help that her tutor was, without a doubt, the cutest person alive.

Nope. Didn't help at all.

Ami apparently didn't noticed (or possibly ignored) Makoto obvious signs of boredom and began going over logarithms one more time (she had explained it previously to the others who "soon" – soon being a few hours – understood it and now Makoto was left – the others REALLY wanted to leave the horror of math behind them – alone since she really hadn't paid attention… she secretly blames Ami).

Ami droned on. "So, when changing from exponential form to logarithmic form, the argument, which is this case is 3, shifts from being…"

Ugh… math.

Math _always_ managed to make Makoto's head hurt. It wasn't that math was exceptionally hard as a subject or that it didn't make sense, just that math, above all other subjects, demanded full and constant attention for detail while keeping in mind the entire problem; if one fails to do so… well, math screws them over.

Which was exactly why Makoto had been unable to learn much in these last four hours: her attention wasn't on math the entire time.

She really tried though; she really really tried to pay attention to what Ami was saying. She listened and copied down notes, followed along with all the others, and even asked the occasional question. But somewhere down the road, her attention faltered as her mind turned its focus elsewhere: from the math to the tutor.

Which, when thinking about it, shouldn't have come as such a surprise: she admitted to herself long ago that she was head over heels for the blue haired girl and there was nothing she could do about it.

Oh, the whole "he looks exactly like the senior who broke my heart" thing?

It was all a show.

Makoto wasn't an idiot and realized that if she didn't have some form of a straight crush it would seem… well… _odd_to the others, especially since she figured most of them were relatively straight (though Minako was iffy). It was the old cover-up story: when asked who they liked, one person may say it was their best friend in the past (Minako shows up again…) or they haven't gotten over their old crush (Makoto is guilty as charged). But the key? It was always someone in the past or someone out of reach.

No one another person can push you into or hold against you: it's a perfect liability and truly… a perfect lie.

And so 'the senior who broke Makoto's heart' was born and used on every occasion possible. As far as Makoto was concerned, it was her shield from suspicions and doubts. It was the fallback plan she could always use… though sometimes she thought it would be easier if the whole world knew: then she could declare her love for her girl without worrying about her being shocked about the whole thing and then –

Makoto was broken out of her reverie from a tap on the shoulder. She looked up at the eyes of the blue haired girl.

"Mako-chan… you weren't paying attention, were you?" Ami asked, though she already knew the answer.

Makoto sweat dropped. Caught. Think of an excuse that Ami would buy… okay, that won't work, so think of a question to catch her off guard…. "Ami," Makoto began, "is there such a thing as a formula for love?"

"Love?!" Well, that had certainly surprised her.

Makoto nodded, "Yeah, love."

Ami, a faint blush still on her cheeks, answered, "Well… none come to mind as an actual formula since it can be argued that love is non-existent and therefore can't be calculated on any scale. Or you could say that perhaps it does exist but as a different thing to each person, still making it impossible to come up with a universal formula. But…"

Makoto tilted her head to the side, "But…?"

Ami continued, beginning to fiddle her thumbs, "there are adages or some Murphy's laws on them. Some that come to mind are: 'there are plenty of fish in the sea' or 'You don't fall in love, you fall in a hole. The depth of the hole is proportionate to how oblivious you are of the fall' or 'Gravity cannot be held responsible for 2 people falling in love.'"

"Are these… well, do they work? I mean, are they thought to be overall true?"

"Well," Ami said, still fidgeting about the topic of love, "The adages? Yes. The Murphy's laws? They are usually seen as a pessimistic view of the world, though sometimes they are very true…. Oh, I just remembered one of the most famous ones: 'Brains x Beauty x Availability Constant.'"

Makoto cut in: "The constant being?"

Ami sullenly answered, "Zero."

Silence overtook them as they considered the quote in the context of their lives, logarithms having been long forgotten.

Makoto broke the silence, "Well, that's depressing." She earned a chuckle out of Ami for that. "And not true at all, I mean, look at you." Ami quickly got quiet and looked up at Makoto, questioning her.

Makoto continued, "I mean, for that to be true, one of the three factors has to be zero, right?" She turned to Ami, who nodded and then continued staring at Makoto, who continued, "Well, your brains are… I don't think I know a word that expresses how brilliant you are because genius doesn't even cover it. You are, without a doubt, the smartest person I know and will ever know and are brilliant in everything you do. You're smart in studies but also logical in battles, applying your skills so wonderfully that I'm sure that everyone trusts their lives in your hands. So obviously that trait is… oh… the largest number possible."

Makoto was on a roll, not even noticing the blush on Ami's face that was growing and growing.

"The next one was beauty, right?" This time she didn't wait for Ami's confirmation. "Well, that's obvious, I mean, you're flat out _beautiful_, to deny it is like denying the sun. You're graceful, as you've proved more than once; always manage to have a smile on your face, even in the worst of times and when everyone is down in the dumps; you seem fragile but are a very strong willed person and… and… you're modest about it too. I mean, I know I'm ranting here, but I think you're absolutely perfect."

It was an understatement to say that Ami's small blush had turned into a complete, bright, tomato red and it just seemed to be getting redder and redder (if at all possible).

Continuing, Makoto went on to the next and final trait. "And availability isn't zero, though I admit that's rather surprising since – wait." Makoto, for the first time in her entire rant, faltered. "It isn't zero, right? Are you going out with someone?"

Ami, still red, managed an incoherent answer. A suddenly depressed Makoto took it as a yes, quickly losing all the energy she had during her rant.

"Oh…right… Urawa?" Makoto asked.

Ami shook her head, not trusting herself to speak.

"You're not going out with Urawa?"

Ami took a deep breathe, trying to calm her nerves (and her blush). She explained, "I never went out with Urawa nor do I plan to: I just say that to stop Usagi and Rei from setting me up with someone."

Makoto let out a sigh of relief she didn't realize she was holding in. Ami caught it though. The cogs in her head starting working, putting together the unexplained stares, the daydreaming, and the occasional blushing and then the rant she had just said…. So that's how it was.

Ami smiled, realizing that she had a high probability of being right on her hunch. Planning to get her revenge on Makoto for making her blush so hard, Ami continued, "So… no, I'm not dating anyone. But… I do have my eye on someone."

"Oh…" Said a very heartbroken Makoto; well, there went that chance.

"But you know Mako-chan," Ami said, causing Makoto to look up at her, wondering why Ami had a slight blush on her face. "I don't think that you will have to worry about it."

"Huh?"

"Oh… nothing… just…" Ami stumbled over her words, unsure where to take this. Just a moment ago it seemed like a brilliant way to make Makoto blush, but now, it was looking as though she didn't have the guts.

Makoto was quite confused. Was she wrong in thinking that Ami had just said something important? Too bad: if she did, Makoto had no idea what it was. Too much math turned her brain to mush.

"So… let's try this problem," Ami said, pointing to one of the problems in the book: the easiest one: 'log 2 of 8 x '.

Ami got upset at her attempt at running away from her plan. Why did she always turn to studies when she wanted to run away from everything? Couldn't she for once find a balance: sure, studies are important but love… well, it could be rather intoxicating. Still… maybe she still could….

Upset about having to go back to math, Makoto quickly glanced at it and quickly came up with the answer, hoping to get back to talking about… love and stuff.

"It's three. Now, Ami-chan, you just –"

She had been swiftly cut off my Ami's soft lips against hers. Falling backwards from shock, she looked up at Ami, who had a smile on her face. Huh… she had known all along… well, she was the smart one.

"You were paying attention after all." Ami said, smiling at the goofy face Makoto was making: it was somewhere between utter bliss and shock. Either way, Ami assumed it was a good thing.

Still shocked but feeling on top of the stars, Makoto thought to make the best of the situation. "Can... Do I get a kiss for each one I get right?"

Amazed at her boldness, Ami laughed and blushed: that had gone better than expected. "Well… maybe."

Makoto gave her a huge smile.

"I love math."


End file.
